Hey guys,
I am going to be starting a 10 gallon planted tank and I am going to use this thread to document everything I do for you all to see and maybe it just might inspire someone to do the same! So Enjoy, all questions, comments, concerns, suggestions and critiques are welcomed! :thm:
So the first thing i did was get some of this API First layer pure laterite to but on the bottom of the tank:
before you put it in your tank, be sure to rinse it thoroughly, as you an see it turns water brown, i dont know about you, but i hate when my aquarium water is anything but crystal clear
The next thing you do is simply put it in the bottom of the tank, i left about a 1" gap around the edges, because im not going to have any plants there, i wanted to make sure there was as much nutrients for my plants as possible. you dont use very much of this stuff, i used 20oz ( the entire package ). The instructions say to use 1oz per us gallon, so i doubled up on that. Hopefully that wont come back to bite me.
Then i capped it with regular aquarium gravel that i liked
here it is all capped, i used probably 14 pounds of gravel for about a 2" thick substrate
Then i stole 5 gallons of good cycled water from my 22 gallon tank
used the plastic fish catcher thing to puur the water into so it didnt disturb the substrate
half full of cycled water
then the rest with fresh treated tap water
here it is all full!
boiled 2 pieces of drift wood for 2.5 hours
and finally have them in a bucket to soak for as long as it takes for the water to not turn brown anymore ( probably around 2-3 weeks )
and here is a video showing the light hood i made
[video=youtube;07cBZVXecZ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07cBZVXecZ4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
I am going to be starting a 10 gallon planted tank and I am going to use this thread to document everything I do for you all to see and maybe it just might inspire someone to do the same! So Enjoy, all questions, comments, concerns, suggestions and critiques are welcomed! :thm:
So the first thing i did was get some of this API First layer pure laterite to but on the bottom of the tank:
before you put it in your tank, be sure to rinse it thoroughly, as you an see it turns water brown, i dont know about you, but i hate when my aquarium water is anything but crystal clear
The next thing you do is simply put it in the bottom of the tank, i left about a 1" gap around the edges, because im not going to have any plants there, i wanted to make sure there was as much nutrients for my plants as possible. you dont use very much of this stuff, i used 20oz ( the entire package ). The instructions say to use 1oz per us gallon, so i doubled up on that. Hopefully that wont come back to bite me.
Then i capped it with regular aquarium gravel that i liked
here it is all capped, i used probably 14 pounds of gravel for about a 2" thick substrate
Then i stole 5 gallons of good cycled water from my 22 gallon tank
used the plastic fish catcher thing to puur the water into so it didnt disturb the substrate
half full of cycled water
then the rest with fresh treated tap water
here it is all full!
boiled 2 pieces of drift wood for 2.5 hours
and finally have them in a bucket to soak for as long as it takes for the water to not turn brown anymore ( probably around 2-3 weeks )
and here is a video showing the light hood i made
[video=youtube;07cBZVXecZ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07cBZVXecZ4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
